MORAGA, Calif. — Coming off of one of their toughest weeks of the season, Saint Mary's Baseball (25-16, 10-5 WCC) will have five chances to rebound, taking on San Jose State (18-24) at home (4/30) and Nevada (19-21) on the road before hosting Pepperdine (12-28, 6-9 WCC) for a three game home conference tilt. Now beyond the halfway mark of conference play, the Gaels will need to make every conference matchup count, three games out of first place, but still 5.5 games ahead in postseason position.
THE DETAILS
Saint Mary's Gaels vs San Jose State Spartans
Tuesday, April 30 at 3 PM
Br. Ronald Gallagher Stadium – Moraga, Calif.
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Saint Mary's Gaels at Nevada Wolf Pack
Wednesday, May 1 at 3 PM
Don Weir Field at Peccole Park – Reno, Nev.
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Saint Mary's Gaels vs Pepperdine Waves
May 3-5, Br. Ronald Gallagher Stadium – Moraga, Calif.
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Saturday, 1 PM | WATCH |
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Sunday, 1 PM | WATCH |
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LAST TIME OUT
The Gaels opened last week with a Tuesday non-conference home tilt with UC Davis. The received three scoreless frames from their starter Dylan Delvecchio, but ran into trouble in the fourth surrendering three runs, two earned, and never were able to get out of the hole, falling 9-3 to end what was a season-long five game win streak. Brian Duroff drove in a pair of runs in that one, while Nathan Chong added an RBI as well. Sophomore John Damozonio had his best outing of the spring, tossing a nine pitch 1-2-3 eighth inning.
Saint Mary's weekend series against Santa Clara opened with some promise on Friday evening, as the Gaels defeated the Broncos 5-3. Home runs by Christian Almanza and Coleman Schmidt in the third and fourth innings netted SMC a 3-0 lead. Derik Eaquinto's only hiccup came in the bottom of the fourth, when he walked the first two batters of the frame, and allowed them to score, however, two more solo shots from Christian Almanza gave the Gaels the insurance they needed to earn the victory. The three home run game for Almanza was the first by a Gael in more than a decade, and tied him with Troy Channing for the most home runs hit in a single season in program history at 20. Ryan Wiltse pitched the final 2.1 innings in relief of Eaquinto, who tossed a career-high 113 pitches in 6.2 innings, and earned his first save of the season.
It looked like the Saint Mary's offense would continue to flex its muscle early in game two, when Brian Duroff slammed a home run of the scoreboard with two on to give the Gaels an early 3-0 lead. That lead quickly evaporated in the bottom half, as the Broncos tied things up at 3-3. Despite the tumultuous first inning allowed by Connor Linchey, he rebounded to toss the next four innings scoreless, but Broncos was able to stifle the Gaels lineup, and Linchey exited tied at 3-3 with a no decision. SCU added two runs in the sixth and one in the eighth off of Ryan Sanders. In need of at least three runs to extend the game, Jared Mettam led off the inning with a single, and Dalton Mashore launched a two run jack over the right center field wall to cut the deficit to one. Christian Almanza doubled with two outs, and represented the tying run in scoring position, but was stranded there, as the Gaels fell 6-5.
The series finale was certainly the most eventful of the three contests between the Gaels and Broncos. Dylan Delvecchio earned his second start of the week, and went 2.2 innings scoreless. He exited with a 1-0 lead thanks to a Coleman Schmidt blast, his second of the week. Three runs would come across against Jason Reitz, two of which were earned, and another that came across due to a pair of Gaels errors. In the sixth inning, however, the Gael drew level when Christian Almanza and Ryan Pierce went back to back with solo blasts. Almanza's home run gave him the new single season home run record at Saint Mary's (21). Ryan Wiltse surrendered two more Bronco home runs, and a Gael error netted Santa Clara another unearned run, but the Gaels refused to go away. Down 7-5 in the ninth, the Gaels loaded the bases before both Aiden Taurek and Tanner Griffith would lift sacrifice flies to the outfield tying things up at seven apiece. Adam Enyart came on to pitch the bottom of the ninth, and recorded the first two out, but surrendered a two out single with two on that would win the game for the Broncos.
For his historic four home run week, Christian Almanza was honored as the WCC Co-Player of the Week. It was the third time this season and fourth time in his career that Almanza had earned this honor.
ABOUT THE SPARTANS
For the third time this season, the Spartans and Gaels will meet up, as the winner will take the W in this three game non-conference set. San Jose State took game one in Moraga 10-8, but the Gaels returned the favor with a 7-1 win in San Jose. Round three will feature the pitching matchup of Preston Howey for the Gaels and Tyler Albanese for the Spartans. Howey tossed two scoreless against the Spartans in the 7-1 win, while Albanese earned the win, going 3.1 innings against the Gaels in Moraga. Seventh year Head Coach Brad Sanfilippo is coming off of back-to-back 30+ win seasons, but would need for his team to win out in order to reach that mark for a third straight year. The biggest offensive threat in Coach Sanfilippo's lineup is first baseman Hunter Dorraugh. The redshirt senior is riding a five game hit streak, which has ballooned his batting average to a team high 0.344. Not only hitting for contact, Dorraugh also leads the team with 11 home runs. The Spartans are winners of six of their last seven games. Saint Mary's has won four of the last five meetings between these two programs.
ABOUT THE WOLF PACK
Immediately following the matchup with the Spartans, the Gaels will hit the road to Reno for a Wednesday afternoon showdown with the Wolf Pack. Nevada sits at 20-21 this season, coming off of taking three of four against the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs. Second year Head Coach Jake McKinley put up 20 wins in his debut season, and it looks like he will easily surpass that mark this season. No official pitching matchup has been announced, but the Wolf Pack have used sophomore right hander Easton Marks in the midweek starter role five different times this season, and he has not pitched in a week, so he potentially would be the arm of choice for Coach McKinley. In 10 appearances (9 starts) this season, Marks has gone 2-4 with a 9.70 ERA and 35 strikeouts to 33 walks. The offense, however, has been the story for the Wolf Pack this season, with five of their nine everyday starters entering the week batting over 0.300. Michael Ball and Taylor Holder represent one of the best 1-2 punches of any lineup in college baseball. Ball checks in with a 0.328 average with 28 extra base hits and 48 RBI, while Holder has been the biggest power threat in the Nevada lineup, batting 0.336 with 13 home runs and 34 RBI. These two squads last met up in 2022, when the Wolf Pack took both ends of a home and home series.
ABOUT THE WAVES
It has been tough sledding for the Waves this season, who enter the week with a 12-28 record, and are clinging to the last postseason spot in the WCC in sixth at 6-9. The Waves are currently on a seven game losing streak, and will take on UCLA tomorrow before getting their chance at the Gaels. Ninth year Head Coach Rick Hirtensteiner is just nine wins away from 200 for his career, and three wins away from moving to sixth all-time in wins in program history. The starting rotation has been fairly consistent for Fridays and Sundays for Coach Hirtensteiner, with Nick Bonn (0-4 5.74 ERA) expected to go on Friday and Matthew Boyer (3-5 6.70 ERA) expected to go on Sunday. The last Saturday starter for the Waves was Jordan Cole (1-2 6.00 ERA), however Tommy Scavone (0-1 3.42 ERA) previously occupied that role, but hasn't pitched since 4/13. Offensively, senior Connor Bradshaw leads the team with a 0.325 average, four home runs and 27 RBI. Pepperdine took two of three in Malibu last year, but the Gaels took two of three against the Waves the last time they played in Moraga in 2022.
Saint Mary's full schedule can be viewed here and season tickets can be purchased by clicking here.
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